Sunday, November 29th 2001: "The Customs Officers Found 63 Parcels With Military Equipment Sent From Germany: The Arsenal in the North Railway Station"

CRJI

The workers in the customs office for customs control and taxes seized a genuine arsenal of component parts for arms, ammunition, radio stations, and devices for measuring the radioactivity. The customs officers controlled 63 parcels with non-declared commodities. Robert Perlitz, a famous character of the underworld wanted by Interpol, had sent them from Germany. His wife, Laura Irene Perlitz, said the parcels contained personal stuff, acquired by the two during their marriage. The customs officers handed over the objects to the policemen from the Directorate in charge Fighting Against Organized Crime and Corruption [DCCOA] in the IGP [General Police Inspectorate]. Given the seriousness of this case, General Mihai Stoica, the head of the directorate, will lead the investigation. According to the customs officers, Perlitz' wife, Laura Irene, came to the customs office on Friday [23 November]. She was driving a Jeep. She wanted to know the whereabouts of the 63 parcels. She did not come back yesterday, when the parcels were subjected to customs control.

At the TBA Bucharest customs point, the objects taken out of the 63 parcels coming from Germany on Robert Perlitz' name were displayed as if in an exhibition. Among them were personal body linens and family pictures. Several tens of sophisticated devices drew the customs officers' attention: listening and communication devices and several pistol magazines. The belongings of a genuine James Bond were displayed on the table, including a mini-camera, a thick book that had in it a powerful listening-retransmission device, a pair of sunglasses also to be used in infrared. A frequency scanner was found too, which could also be used for communications via satellite. Not even the policemen who had come on the location had ever heard of such a thing. Various listening devices, for short or long distances were scattered around, alongside microphones of various sizes, transmission-reception stations, and several laptops. All objects, some of them older -- from the '70s to newer ones -- the '90s -- showed they had been intensely used.

Besides the sophisticated devices, cartridges and empty gun magazines were found too, together with all kind of pistol holsters and special boxes for their keeping. In addition, a thick rare book, which was adjusted for the purpose to allow anyone stash a pistol in it. No arms were found, although there was plenty of ammunition, and even a special sighting telescope, which could cover up to 200 meters.

In addition, a whole set of pictures displayed all kind of pistols, some of which were very rare, specific to collections. The manufacturing date and year, the series, and sale price were written on their backs. The most expensive pistol cost $3,300. The fact that it was a "Rheinmetall" prototype was specified, alongside the piece of information that only two other identical pieces do exist. A series of framed drawings displaying various rare pistols points out Perlitz' passion for arms.

Who is Robert Perlitz?

Robert Perlitz is an extremely well-known name in the underworld. Perlitz has a mysterious past and the citizenship of three countries at the moment: Romanian, German, and Israeli. He was born on 15 January 1947 in Bucharest. He settled down in Germany, in Frankfurt am Main. During 1999 the Interpol issued a general pursuit warrant on his name. The main charge was a damage amounting to 12 billion lei, caused to a great number of Romanian citizens through a transferable securities company in Romania. The Perlitz couple -- Laura Irene and Robert -- are associates in two Romanian commercial companies, "Interkassso" SRL [limited responsibility company] and "Aquagaz" SA [company on shares]. Laura Irene Perlitz owns 40 percent of the stock at "Aquagaz." The rest belongs to five other persons, Mihail Boris Doeffner [previous name in boldface as published], Daniela Ruxandra Dumitrescu, Panait Solzaru, Valentin Smeu, and Dan Sergiu Velichi. All of them hold percentages from 5 to 20 percent of the total stock.

In turn, Robert Perlitz is one of the eight administrators of the company, alongside Venera Dragnea, Marin Constantin, Mihail Boris Oeffner, Ana Milea, Marius Napu, Ovidiu Olteanu, and Dan Sergiu Velichi. The associate Doeffner's name resembles administrator Oeffner's name in quite a strange manner. According to the data at the Trade Registrar, the first was born on 15 May 1956 in Ploiesti, and the second on 1 January 1950 in Bucharest. However, it is difficult to believe we are dealing with different persons. It is much more plausible that they have declared wrong information to the Trade Registrar.

Oeffner is also a generally wanted person, through Interpol, wanted since October 1999. He is charged with murder one and non-observance of the regime in force for arms and ammunition. The mass media made Oeffner's name public for the first time in relation to the Snagov [resort near Bucharest] murder, when Marin Padureanu was murdered. The latter was known in the underworld circles as a luxury loan shark, lending money to casino gamblers.